Railway-crossing.



No. 698,4!0. Patented Apr. 22, I902.

- C. F. PANNELL.

RAILWAY CROSSING.

(Application filed June 22, 1901.) v (No Model) 4 Sheeis8heet I.

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No. 698,4I0. Patented Apr. 22, I902.

C. F. PANNELL- RAILWAY CROSSING.

(Application filed June 22, 1901.) (No Model.)

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CHARLES FREDERICK PANNELL, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO FREDERICKPANNELL, OF COLUMBIA, MISSOURI.

RAILWAY CROSSlNG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 698,410, dated. April22, 1 902. Application filed Tune 22, 1901. Serial No. 65,574. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern/.1

Be it known that 1, CHARLES FREDERICK- PANNELL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Railway-Crossings, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to railway-crossings; and the object of myinvention is to produce a smooth solid crossing over which trains oneither track may pass without the usual pounding caused by the notchescut for the car-wheel flanges in ordinaryjcrossings.

The advantages of my improved crossing are, first, economy due to thedecreased wear and tear of the rolling-stock, and, second, the increasedcomfort of the passengers.

I attain the above-named objects by providing a movable section in eachtrackat the crossing with means for lifting eithersection out of the wayof a train on the other track, so that either of the tracks may be madepractically continuous for the passage of a train.

I will 110w fully describe my invention with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which-'- Figure 1 is a perspective view of acrossing constructed in accordance with my invention, one of the postsbeing broken out to expose other' parts. Fig. 2 is aplan view of thesame, one track being connected, the other broken. Figs. 3 and 4 areenlarged detail views of the free end of one of the movable rails. Figs.5 and 6 are enlarged detail views of the end of one of the fixed railsengaged by the movable rail. tional broken-away plan view of one of thepivotal rail-joints. Fig. 7 a is a broken-away plan view of amodification of one of the pivotal rail-joints. Fig. 8 is a broken-awayelevation of the inner face of the fixed rail z'. e., the face traversedby the car-wheel flanges. Fig. 9 is a transverse section taken on lineIX IX of Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is a transverse section taken online X X ofFig. 8. Fig.

11 is an enlarged detail view of the end of one of the movable rails,the locking-bolt, and

in engagement with the fixed. rails.

Fig. 7 is a partly-seca locking device for holding the movable railsFig. 14 is an'enlarged detail view of the end of one of the fixed rails.Fig. 15 is a plan view of an oblique crossing of two tracks, one trackbeing connected, omitting the raising and lowering apparatus. Fig. 16 isa plan View of an oblique crossing of three tracks, one track beingconnected, omitting the raising and loweringapparatus.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the tracks at and near the crossing are laidon stringers 1 instead of on the usual ties or sleepers. The pairs ofrails may be connected by any desired number of tie-bolts foradditionaled to one of the fixed rails 4 by a hinge-bolt 5. Said bolt isshouldered, as shown, to prevent the nuts from binding on the rails andcausing friction between them, and the head of the bolt is sunk intorail 4 flush withits inner face, so that the flanges of the carwheelscannot strike it. The web of each rail 33 4 4 adjacent to thepivot-joint described is of the same thickness as the head of the railfor greater strength, the shape being shown in Figs. 9 and 10. The endof each movable rail 3 3 opposite from their pivoted ends is formed asshown in Figs. 3 and 4, Fig.

3 being a side view partly in section, and Fig. 4 a bottom-view. A.triangular recess 8 is formed in the end of rail 3, and this recess isadapted to fit overa triangular rib 7-, formed at the adjacent end ofthe corresponding fixed rail 4. Fig. 6 is a top view of the rail endshown in Fig. 5. Thus when the movable rails 3 3 are lowered upon thestringers 1 the recesses 8 drop over the ribs 7, and the movable rails 3are thus prevented from lateral movement. Said movable rails arepreferably connected by braces 9. Slots 10 are cut in the stringers 1beneath the pivoted ends of the movable rails 3 3 to permit the descentof said ends when said rails are raised to vertical position, asdescribed hereinafter.

The hinge-joints may be constructed in a variety of ways, onemodification being shown in Fig. 7.

12 designates one of the movable rails, and 13 the fixed rail, or viceversa. slotted out to receive a narrow extension 12 of the other rail,and a pivot pin or bolt 1 1 extends through both.

One means for raising and lowering the movable track-sections is shownherein; but the means is immaterial, and a great variety of devicesmight be employed for this purpose. In Figs. 1 and 2 a cross-bar 15 withextended ends is secured to the free end of each pair of movable rails 33. Cables 16 16, connected to said cross-bars 15, extend over pulleys onposts 17 and are connected to windlasses 18. Oounterbalance-weights 19are secured to the cables 16, as shown, and each pair of said weightswill nearly balance the weight of the movable rails, to which they areconnected. Said rails are raised by operating the windlasses 18,whichare provided with the usual ratchets for preventing backward rotation ofthe drums, and when either track is to be lowered the ratchet-dogs arereleased and the track descends by its excess of weight over the weights19.

- rails 3 3.

When the movable rails 3 3 are in lowered position, some device may befound necessary for holding down the free ends of said rails when atrain passes over them, although the weight of the rails will probablyhold them down in alinement with the fixed rails. One device for lockingthe movable rails in lowered position and releasing them again is shownin Fig. 13. The ribs 7 on the fixed rails 4 1 and the adjacent ends ofthe movable rails 3 3 are perforated to receive locking-bolts 21 21,which, when moved apart pass through the ends of both pairs of rails,and thereby lock them together until the train has passed. The innerends of the.

bolts 21 are connected to a double crank 22 on the end of a rock-shaft23, mounted in bearings 2e, secured to the track-braces. The outer endof each bolt 21 is guided by a sleeve-bracket 21, secured to thetrack-brace, as shown in Fig. 11. In line with the pivotal points of therails 3 3 a connecting-rod 25 is placed for rocking shaft 23, said rodbeing connected to a crank 26 on said shaft and to swivel-joint 27, onemember of which is forked and connected loosely to a handlever 28,fulcruined at 29. Moving the lever 28 either locks or withdraws thebolts 21, and the loose connection to the lever 28 and the swivel-joint27 provides for the raising of the A universal joint may be employedinstead of the joint 27, if preferred.

In operating the crossing the watchman Rail 13 is.

lowers the movable rail-section in whichever track the first trainapproaches on and locks said section down with the lever 28 until thetrain has passed.

Some railroad-crossings are equipped with a gate or gates placed acrossone or both of the tracks. These gates are kept closed and locked, sothat no train may pass the crossing without demolishing the gate orstopping. The rule is that the train must stop while the brakeman orengineer unlocks and opens the gate to permit his train to cross theother track. The movable track-sections in my invention serve the samepurpose as these gates. WVhichever track-section is up acts as a gateacross its own track, and the movable section of the other track mayalso be kept raised as a gate across its own track, neither section tobe lowered until a train comes to a full sto in approaching thecrossing.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desireto secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In a railway-crossing, a movable tracksection pivotally secured atone of its ends to the fixed portion of the track, recesses in the freeends of the movable rails, corresponding projections on the ends of thefixed rails adjacent to the recessed ends of said movable rails, saidprojections and said recessed ends having transverse openings thereinwhich register with one another, when said projections are covered bysaid recesses, and a looking device for holding said movable rails inengagement with said fixed rails, comprising a pairof reciprocatorybolts mounted in alinement with said transverse openings in the rails, arock-shaft, cranks thereon, connected to said bolts, and means forturning said rockshaft; substantially as described.

2. In a railway-crossing, a movable tracksection pivotally secured atone end thereof to the fixed portion of the track, a cross-bar securedto the free end of said movable section, a pair of posts at the sides ofthe track adjacent to the pivotal connections of said movable section, apulley secured to the top of each post, a Windlass mounted on each post,a pair of cables passing over said pulleys respectively, each cablehaving one of its ends secured to said cross-bar and its opposite endsecured to

